Cfje Springtime 






























ifpnrn Atoms (tturtia 


Copyright, 1910, by 
Henry Adams Curtis 



ufaknuta park, 1. (!l. 











s 

J 






fed. A277304 





6SJ GH Springtime ^3 


/C/55 //ioii my willing lips, O April wind. 

Lade with faint fragrances; O balmy breath 
Of the returning Spring; and sing once more 
With all things glad my smiling soul the song 
Of sweet forgetfulness ! 

O April rains 

hat with soft laughter wake the daffodils; 
^Rejoicing brooks that noise among the rocks; 
Rivers that run with sunlit waters down 
To sunlit seas ’neath azures fathomless; 
Minister unto me! 

Give of thy joy, 

O Mother of the vernal whisperings; 

And ye, sweet hearts demure that blossom where 
The sun hath kissed you into beauty rare; 

Ye silent fluttering wings and many-hued, 

Tell me the secret of your sweet delights! 




^3 e^3 She ^prtngttmr ^3 *S3 


Ye greening fields and misty pasture lands, 
l^e hills of mystery that purple on 
c Uhe wide horizons, O enrapture me! 

Ye mad and merry minstrels of the air 
Attune my soul to your mad merriment; 

Your measured mirth ! 

% 

And as I lithesome dance, 
And trippingly, across the meadow grass 
Damp with the dew and gay with blossomings, 
Lure my glad soul into thy primal ways, 

O thou glad Earth, and unto me impart 
Thy joyousness! 

Kiss thou my willing lips, 

O south winds blown delicious from far isles, 
That I may sing of blithesome pleasurings; 
Of springtime and of youth; of golden hours 
That fill the smiling day from dawn to dark; 
And of sweet-scented and the star-lit night 




e?«5 ®1?? springtime 


i*prmg’fi Sjarbutgfr. 

Thou clear-voiced minstrel from another zone, 
Filling the winter morning with thy mirth , 
Thy song is of the summer-time of earth, 

The August twilight and the meadow-drone; 

But why dost thou of all thy mates alone , 
From groves that gave thy airy roundel birth , 
Pursue thy lonely way to this sad dearth , 

And mid our frosts tune high spring's clarion ? 

Or, art a spirit seeding some remote 

Untroubled Vale where blooms etern the May, 
And there to flute soft madrigals for aye? 

Ah, well; and morrow find thee far afloat. 
Undaunted poised upon departing wing. 

Still art thou the blithe harbinger of spring. 




^3 $¥ S>|irtngttmp ^3 


ibty &muabr. 

Hear’st thou a flute? 

From out the darkness breads 
A strain of music, and the night awakes 
To the soft melody of serenade 
As lover sings , and lists the smiling maid. 


The stars now are shining as lamps on the sea; 
My heart, love, is pining, and pining for thee ! 
Far, far, flies the eagle, the dove to its nest; 
My soul seeketh thine tonight, dearest and best! 
The glad stars are shining; 

For thee I am pining! 

The eagle flies homeward, close nestles the dove; 
Wafye, wake from thy dreaming! 

With eyes softly beaming. 

Come thou to the lattice and list to my love ! 

The waters are murmuring down by the lake; 
To my soul the sweet tones of thy voice they 
awake ! 





^5 ^prtttgttmp ^5 


The stars that are shining as lamps on the sea 
Are thy dear eyes smiling , and smiling for me. 
Tfhe glad stars are shining; 

For thee I am pining! 

The eagle flies homeward; close nestles the dove; 
Wal^e, wake from thy dreaming! 

With eyes softly beaming, 

Come thou to the lattice and list to my love ! 

The night winds are sighing among the dark 
trees; 

The moonbeams are lying on blossoming leas; 
c&he waves murmur softly; stars glimmer above; 
My heart! O, it seek s thee! I long for thee, 
Love ! 

The glad stars are shining; 

For thee I am pining ! 

Far, far flies the eagle; close nestles the dove; 
Wake, wake from thy dreaming! 

With eyes softly beaming, 

Come thou from the lattice and list to my love! 




(Si (Si Springtime' ^3 


®hr litnft-JFUmtrr. 

Who sweeps wide spaces unexplored and vast 
With the dread tempest's wild tumultuous blast, 
Yet bringeth forth the soft southwest to lure 
From its long winter sleep the timid flower, 
Reveal to me, dim-visioned\ the intent 
Of this ephemeral that dies while spring 
Is yet upon the wing! 

Unfolds a flaming scroll writ permanent 
Upon the heavens' blue; 

But this small tenement 
Of subtle charms thrown free to every gale ,— 
Is it less wonderful, though brief its span, 

The blossoming and fading of this wan 
Creation here ? Its little cup and frail 
It opened to the wind and sun and dew; 

Then, after its short day of revelling, 

Gave up its life. 

Why was it called so soon, though yet was rife 
The boisterous spring? 




^3 ^5 ®he springtime ^3 ^5 


It troubles me that this its scanty share 
When all things else are glad and debonaire. 

Reside my daily path strown lavishly 
Are joys that I pass calmly by, nor see; 

Nor heed their wordless messages of cheer; 

{F$ut this pale spent anemone, 

This first born of the year ,— 

This first to fade ,— 

Had it no place, Wise Builder, in Thy plan ? 
Was it then made. 

Like songs that are unsung, 

To satisfy no longings? no desires? 

Only to joy a little space, and when 
Burned low its fires, 

Enrich the clay from which it lately sprung? 

Ah, well; with pleasance its small £/ngc/om 
filled, 

And it was glad the while. 

The essences of a fond soul it spilled 
With generous abandon to the wile 
Of winds that its too transient life caressed, 




ID 1910 


i 






PRINTED BY 
THE PIONEER PRESS 
TAKOMA PARK 


i 














One copy del. to Cat. Div. 





DEC 12 !9!0 

















